Red Seattle welcomes everyone -- except patriots

Thirty years ago, Seattle was still a family-oriented town dominated by blue-collar industries and single-family homes. There was a bohemian presence there, but it was mostly limited to the University District and Capitol Hill.

Today the entire city prides itself on its open-mindedness. Red Seattle not only tolerates nonconformity, it celebrates it. It is Red Seattle where a proposed group home for homeless alcoholics would allow them to drink in their rooms. It is Red Seattle where police were ordered to pull back during WTO, which allowed the streets to be taken over and occupied by tens of thousands of demonstrators. It is Red Seattle where a man running for mayor got up during a candidate forum wearing a housedress and combat boots and started dancing on a table. It is Red Seattle where not one politician, progressive pastor or academic has complained about a sign hanging in a storefront on Rainier Avenue urging ``Victory to the Iraqi Resistance!'' It is Red Seattle where a militant black Moslem, James Ujaama, who eventually pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban, was initially defended by some journalists and civil rights leaders because of his previous community activism.

And feelings matter too. It was in Red Seattle where County Executive Ron Sims sent out a memo during the holidays asking his employees not to wish each other a ``Merry Christmas'' because it might inadvertently offend some people.

It doesn't matter how far out your politics, religion or beliefs are, Red Seattle is committed to fostering respect for all points of view.

Except one.

If you are a supporter of George W. Bush, a Republican, a Falangist, or even just an old fashioned, flag-waving patriot, you are not welcome in The Emerald  Red City.

Ken Potts, a veteran of three tours of duty in Vietnam, lives in Seattle's Shoreline area, where his property and truck have been repeatedly vandalized. The reason? He supports George Bush.

His house has been bombarded with eggs, both front and back, his truck scarred with a one-foot scratch. Mail containing left-wing and anti-American literature was sent anonymously to ``The Patriot.'' ``I assume,'' he says, ``it is because I have a large ``Bush-Cheney'' sign on my house. I also have the 101st Airborne Flag flying night and day and also the American flag on a 25-foot pole during the day. My mail box was also blown up three times last year until I mounted a 20-pound one on a solid steel post cemented into the ground.''

When Mr. Potts went to the store to buy something to clean the mess off his house, the cashier, a woman in her 50s, asked about the Bush bumper sticker on his truck, and told him she was a Kerry supporter. She asked why he didn't like Kerry.

``I told her that, since she asked, I did not appreciate him coming back from Vietnam and turning on his brothers still there. She asked what I meant and I told her that I did not appreciate being called a `war criminal' and a `murderer,' that I was never involved in any atrocity, nor did I witness any such thing. She then told me that I was in fact a war criminal and murderer and we (troops) were all guilty of atrocities.''

When the store manager came over and apologized to him, the cashier yelled at the manager, telling him not to apologize to a murderer for her.

Now if Mr. Potts had been a Moslem cleric or a gay activist and was hounded like this, the city of Seattle, its politicians, pastors and pundits would be all over it. But if the vandalism, property destruction and harassment happens because he supports George Bush, well, that's just mischief.

Interestingly, while this kind of thing goes on in Red Seattle, there are plenty of Kerry and even some Nader bumper stickers in the supposedly uptight suburbs.

There are two ways to deal with it. The first is to give up and not post a Republican yard sign or a pro-Bush bumper sticker or flag in Red Seattle. The second is to emulate Mr. Potts. ``I was a patriot before it was cool and will remain one until I die. Nobody can intimidate me into taking down my sign or my flag. I earned the right to my opinion and free speech.''

Mr. Potts bought a pair of spotlights. One is trained on the Bush-Cheney sign, the other on the Stars and Stripes.

Three words. God bless him.

CFPA: There are enough right-wingers in Seattle to fight back against these kind of anti-American activities. I'm surprised no one has thrown a brick trough the store window on Rainier Ave. yet. There are Falangists in Seattle who should do the right thing. Plaster the areas in front of left-wing and Democratic party offices with Bush and patriotic bumper stickers, use your imagination, strike back against the traitors of the United States. To see photos of the 1999 WTO riots  Click Here